Till The Stars Come Down Review: chuffin' fantastic regional premiere in Nottingham
Updated: 10 minutes ago
10 September 2026 | 19:00 | Nottingham Playhouse
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | PR - Invite
In 2024, Beth Steel's comedy-drama Till The Stars Come Down debuted at the National Theatre (Dorfman), subsequent to a 2025 West End transfer at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. This previous run included immersive onstage seating, in which we were treated like real wedding guests. Famously described by WhatsOnStage's Sarah Crompton as 'Chekhov on Heineken', this Olivier-nominated play receives its regional premiere tonight at Nottingham Playhouse.
Set not too far from here in Shirebrook, a former Mansfield mining town, Sylvia is preparing to marry her Polish husband Marek. With a cast of ten heightened, extroverted characters, its location and family chaos are all too recognisable. But no wedding is perfect. Everyone arrives on their best behaviour, until deep-seated resentments and secrets begin to spill out. Alliances shift, as Sylvia is forced to choose between her family and her love.
The reason for Steel's writing being so riotously funny and relatable is down to its colloquial dialogue. The play's storylining is remarkably intelligent, and the language is never overly elaborate, instead relying on how we authentically chat with family behind closed doors. When Aunty Carol (Sadie Shimmin) first enters on the line 'How you doing sugar tits?', and later asks Sylvia 'Have you had a poo?' as she fails to squeeze into her inches-too-small wedding dress, you know you're in for a great evening. Shimmin's Aunty Carol steals every scene with her no-filter drunkenly stumbles, and the most hysterical one liners.
But in the next moment, we are gasping into utter silence, marvelling in its sharp emotional whiplash. The dinner in Act One is brilliant in capturing every single micro-expression and piece of subtext, where the table spans the width of the stage and faces all ten actors towards the audience. An addition to this production includes a live video camera, as several members of the family pick it up to film a wedding montage, projected onto a large screen above.
Sylvia (AK Golding) and Marek (Ivan Ivashkin) arrive down the central aisle of the auditorium and sit at the centre, a picture of happiness. Ivashkin even encourages us to sing along with his unique cover of Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Seated next to him is Hazel (Emma Pallant), whose lines are often underpinned by xenophobic remarks on Polish immigrants. So when Marek encroaches on her personal space, she facially recoils. Even when the focus isn't on her, the staging exposes every minute reaction, packed with so many layers in every second. Always watch the performers who aren't talking!
Directed by Caroline Steinbeis, this is a non-replica production, although it still holds a familiarity to Bijan Sheibani's original vision. This evening's biggest change is in the morning before the wedding, which all happens in front of a red stage curtain (design by Oli Townsend). It is quite 'meta', but the notion of the family 'putting on a show' is interesting to consider. The women of the cast spearhead this play: Emma Pallant gives a particularly brilliant turn as Hazel, where her cold exterior crumbles under the weight of a vulnerable marriage. And opposite her sisters Maggie (Leah Brotherhead) and Sylvia (AK Golding), every emotion between this trio is entirely visceral and human.
Scenes are beautifully lit by Johanna Town's designs, that embrace the spiritual and astrological tones of the text. This really is the best of Nottingham Playhouse, undertaking Steel's roaring comedy to expose the consequences of generational conflict and bigotry. Marek's line 'You need to decide if you are victim or superior, because you can't be both' is one that shall stick with me long after the curtain call.
You might love a wedding, or you might have suffered through a painful one in the past. Regardless of this, Till The Stars Come Down is the wedding you need to be at this autumn, a contemporary sensation that has received 20 international productions since 2024 (!). Even if it's just to see Aunty Carol dancing to It's Raining Men while humping a vacuum cord!
Playing at Nottingham Playhouse until 26th September: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/till-the-stars-come-down/
